Star guidance

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Beginning of a star tour in the twilight: two reflecting telescopes and an Apogee satellite telescope , all aligned parallel to the bright star
Summer Milky Way, photographed with cell phone. Swan (standing cross under Deneb) and lyre (left from Wega)

A star tour is an explanation and demonstration of the starry sky for people with an astronomical interest, carried out by experts ( amateur or professional astronomers ) . They can be carried out with bare eyes , with telescopes or with projection methods.

As a rule, star tours are offered by astro clubs or public observatories during their evening opening hours, but also by private star friends at special times (e.g. Astronomy Day ) or for friends and acquaintances. In terms of content, a star tour can contain several of the following elements:

With the naked eye
Estimating angles using the outstretched arm
  • Directions and movements in the sky
North and sun columns in the star garden of the Austrian Astro Club

With a star map or computer

Rotatable star map for Central Europe

Observations on the telescope

Visitors to star tours are often more interested in telescopes than in the starry sky itself. Therefore, at least one or two school or amateur telescopes should be available for every tour . For larger telescopes, further explanations can be added, e.g. B. to optics and mounting technology , to control electronics or to the celestial coordinates .

Depending on the current position of the starry sky , the following elements are suitable for telescopic observation:

Double star cluster in Perseus, magnification 80x

Suggestion for your own experiments

With star tours, suggestions for personal vision or targeting exercises can also be given, for example

  • practicing indirect vision in order to see even very faint stars or diffuse nebulae with free eyes
  • the estimate of the apparent brightness of stars - e.g. B. on the Big Dipper or in star fields
  • look for the double star in the car
  • Aiming by sighting through the telescope, finding in the finderscope
  • Focusing in the telescope with / without glasses, "hole" in the mirror telescope, etc.
  • search for the zenith under the stars (turning around your own axis, alternating pulling in the neck depending on the direction)
  • Alignement (direction estimation ) of a bright star road
  • Puzzle game for kids: when and where will star XY go down?
    • Cover the bright star in the east with a chimney and be amazed how quickly it appears.

Measures in the corona pandemic

With the start of the lockdown in March 2020 due to the novel corona virus , all observatories had to stop their public tours. Restricted operation was only possible where there was sufficient space outdoors or very well ventilated domes .

Since the easing, which began in different countries in June or July, various measures have been tried out, above all

  • strict distance - which is well feasible for free-eyed observation
  • more intensive tours only for small or family groups
  • Simple disinfection measures on telescopes or disposable foils with every change of observer
  • or use only your own binoculars or instruments.

See also

Web links